Bag construction



G. R. CLIPNER BAG CONSTRUCTION March 16, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJuly 27, 1959 FIG. 2

FIG. I

FIG. 6

INVENTOR. GEORGE R. CLIPNER FIG. 3

March 16, 1965 G- R. CLIPNER BAG CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledJuly 27, 1959 FIG. 4

INVENTOR.

GEORGE R. CLIPNER March 16, 1965 G. R. CLIPNER BAG CONSTRUCTION 3Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 27, 1959 ll/l [/ZIV/ I/l/l/l/l/I/lll/ FIG. 9

FIG. IO

R E m mu W F- G mw E G Y B United States Patent 3,173,602 BAGCGNSTRUCTION George R. Clipner, 5516 Howard St., Umaha, Nebr. Filed July27, 1959, Ser. No. 829,747 2 Claims. (6i. 229-56) This invention relatesto product packaging and more particularly to multiple compartmentedbags for the packaging of potato chips and the like.

Heretofore the conventional method of doing such packaging has been tohave a single outer bag and two completely separate and independentinner bags disposed in but not attached to the outer bags.

With this prior art method it has been necessary for the two inner bagsto be separately filled, separately sealed, and then inserted into theouter bag by hand, and to which the outer bag is itself sealed. Forthese reasons the cost of the end product is very great and the laborforce necessary for these sealing and stuffing operations isconsiderable.

An object of my invention is to provide a bag having two separator wallsforming two separate inner compartments which are preferably formed inone operation whereby the separator walls are securely positioned andsealed in the bag.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bag of the characterdescribed whereby the inner compartments are filled separately butwherein both of the inner compartments and also the bag itself aresealed in one operation eliminating the prior art process of separatelysealing two inner bags and inserting them into the outer bag and thensealing the outer bag, totalling three sealing operations.

The reduction of time consumption, labor cost and the increase ofefficiency in cutting three sealing operations down to one isimmediately apparent.

A further object of the invent-ion is to provide a means of making amulti-compartment bag in which two sleeves are suitably secured to thebag at its lower end, and if desired also at its upper end so as todivide the bag into two separate compartments, with the sleeves as theinnermost lining thereof.

Yet another object is to provide a bag having a double dividing wallproviding greater strength.

Still another object is to provide modifications in which the dividingwalls above described are disposed in bags of single wall thickness orof double wall thickness, and in both of which modifications greatsavings in labor are achieved over the prior art methods.

Still another object is to provide means whereby both inner separatorwalls are firmly fixed into position with respect to a single or doublethickness bag by having the lower edges of the walls folded upwardlyinside of the upwardly folded lower edge of the outer bag, with theupwardly folded lower edge portions all firmly held in such positions bysuitable means thereby firmly closing the lower end of the resultantmulti-c-ompartmented bag and also firmly closing the compartmentingwalls in place in the bag.

Still another object of the invention is to provide amulti-compartmented bag the inner compartments of taneous unrolling of(a) one folded sheet, or (b) or of two or more folded sheets forminginner compartments, or (c) the unrolling of sleeves of annular shapeforming the one or more inner compartments, with the sheet of materialforming the bag being simultaneously and continuously wrapped around theinner compartment forming material to the end that its edges areoverlapped whereby they can be sealed together then or later, makingpossible the eflicient cutting off to proper bag lengths simultaneouslyboth inner compartment forming material and the bag material itself, andthereafter the simultaneous and continuous folding and sealing of theinner separator material and the bag itself at the bottornand at thetop, after filling, all preferably as above described.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent from the following detailed description, drawing and claims,the scope of the invention not being limited to the drawings themselvesas the drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating a way in whichthe principles of this invention can be applied.

Other embodiments of the invention utilizing'the same or equivalentprinciples may be used and structural changes may be made as descrbed bythose skilled in the art without departing from the present inventionand the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a frontal elevation of a multi-cornpartmented bag of thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a view-in-section taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view-in-section taken along the line 3--3 of FIG. 1, with aportion broken away;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view showing a method of simultaneously unrollingmaterial for forming walls or separators and other material forming abag itself;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the relative position of theseparator and the outer sheet of material which forms the bag with thesealed longitudinal overlapping edges of the bag forming material beingspread apart 'to reveal the shape and position of the inner separators;

FIG. 6 is a view showing a stage in the method of closing the lower endsof the bag by folding;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a modified bag which has been completedin all respects except the sealing of its upper end;

FIG. 8 is a View showing a modified method of sealing the lower edges ofboth separator wall material and the bag itself by heat fusion employingcoatings of heat sealing material to form a hermetically sealed joint;

FIG. 9 is a view-in-section of a modified bag which in externalappearance would be like the bag of FIG. 1, but FIG. 9 shows a baghaving a double outer wall and a double wall divider;

FIG. 10 shows a cross-section of a modified bag, the section beingsimilar to that of FIG. 9 but showing a bag having a single-thicknessouter wall and also a single separator wall.

Referring to FIG. 1 we there see the exterior of a multi-oompartmentedbag 10 of this invention. The bag 10 comprises a bag 12 and is best seenin FIG. 2, and further comprises a plurality of inner separators orsleeves 14 two of which are shown by way of example in FIG. 2.

The outer bag 12 has its sides 20 folded inwardly and the sides of theinner sleeves or tubular or sleeve-like partitions 14, seen at 24, arealso folded inwardly whereby the resulting multi-compartmented bag iseasily folded or collapsed by further and similar folding.

It will be seen that each of the sleeves 14 forms a compartment of theresulting total multi-compartmented bag.

It is preferred that the forward and rearward walls 30 of the innersleeves 14 he adjacent and in touching relationship and in parallelismwith the forward and rearinner sleeves 14 lie parallel to and closelyadjacent or touchingthe endwalls 25 of the bagll.

Referring to FIG. 3, it will beseen that the lower edges of the innersleeves 14 and therbagrl-Z .arepreferably collapsed and folded upwardlyasbest seenxat 40 and are then folded downwardly as best seen at 42 toform a double fold with the lower edges of the inner sleevesubstantially co-extensive with the lower: edges. of the bag. The doublefold can be'rnaintained'in anysuita'ble manner such as by pl'acingheatsealing material. between the several layers-and applying heatv andfusing the layers together;

The up erends; ofthe bagscan be similarly secured as best seen in FIG. 3in which the. upper terminal edges 1 are folded overv and downwardly asbest seen at 5%,.also With'the upper terminalcdges of the innersleevesmaterial extending. coextensive with and: folded' downwardly withthe. upper terminal edges of: the bag.

The. folded relationship withthe-upper end of the bag canxbe: maintainedwith 'staples 52-or can be maintained by hermetic. sealing. similarly tothe loweredge.

Likewise the single folded upper terminal edge shown in. FIG. 3will-serve to illustrateaway-in which thelower terminaledge" could alsobe closeclby a single foldt' Referring were. 4'wethere' see a'method ofefficiently forming a multi-compaltmented bag in whicli one or morerolled up masses or rolls of annular inner sleeve material, generallyindicatedrat 60;:are being unrolledfrom a common axle 62 forsimultaneousand uniform and even unrolling'with the rolls 60' and 162being preferably of equal diameter at all times.

As the inner sleeve materialdt) is unuolled'aifiat sheet of rolledmaterial 70. isrsimultaneously beingunrolled about its axle 72 and isbeing'unrolled in the same direction as the roll60and is at thesame-time folded around the under side of the-unrolled portion'76 ofeach roll e0 untiltheside edges 78of the flat sheet materialoverlap'each other, this operation all being done as one continuous operation".I

The resultant material can then: be cut to -desired lengthsfor'formingtbags and such'a piece of material al-- ready cut from the remainderis'generally indicated at 80 in FIG. 4 and a perspective'view of thecomposite material 80 is generally indicated in FIG. 5, and in which theedges of the overlapped portion 780i the outer bag 7 or fiat sheetmaterial are spread upwardly to show the ammlarinner sleeve-material 6itherebeneath'l It will be seen thatthe overlapping edges '78 are pro- 4by means of scaling or cementing material and application-of heatorother meanst 7 Other and similar scaling is preferably done on theopposite side of the inner sleeve materials.

Referring now'to FIG. 6 we see our next step in the method which is thefoldingv over of the lower terminal edge 9*6 of the outerbag'm'aterial70 with cement or coatings of heat s'eal material 98'applied to all'surfaces of the folded over material which would beinwardly disposed after a complete folding has been finished, in thecase of themethod shown in FIG. 6 a double folding isto be done whichwill result ina finished bag having cross-sectional, appearance at its"lowerend' similar to that shown in FIG. 3;

Other modificationsof the multi-oompartment bag of this invention-canbe-made and one is shown in "FIG. 7 in which adouble-thicknesslaminated-bag is generally indicated a t-ltlfihavingover-lapped edges 162; the outer thickness having an inner layer or,thickness 1% laminated thereto or loose therein except at the bottomand, top.

In themodificati-on of FIG. 7 a wallm'eans or separator wall. orpartition 110 is disposed suitably attached by hermetic sealing,bycement or otherwise,.asgenerally indicated at 112 to the forward andrearward sides'of an inner layer or inner 'bag- 106,- the for'ward andrearward terminal-edges-of the wall 110 being disposed transversely tothe remainder of the Wall so as to be parallel tothe 'forwardfandrearward' walls 1-20. and 1-22. respectively of the inner bag 106. I

The wall 110 divides the inner layer-1&6 of the. bag

into two completely separate" compartmentsand the Wall preferably isfoldedatits lower end so'that it is flat and is folded preferablyvertically along. a line transverse to the upturned and folded lowercdge'130 of the composite bag formedof the outer bag, 100 and inner bag106. V

The wall 110 is upturned and. folded in with the up.- turned loweredgeofthe outer bag 110-which also has in itthe upturned lower edge of theinner layeror sleeve 106, is therefore bound in such a way astocompletely' separate two compartments-: and 142 fromeach other.

Itwill beseenthat the lower edge 130 of the 1bag 100 is folded upwardlyonly and isnotdouble-folde'd as is anotherpossibility 1 Referring now toFIG. 9 We" there find'anouterbag layer and an inner bag layer 152;and adivider or wall meansor, separator Walljmeans 160. The divider or Wallor-wallmeans m this modification is an annular sleeve and forms a doubleseparator wall with two sides 162 and ltid'which are secured together byhaving com.- mon ends 168 disposed transversely thereto and which aredisposed parallel to the face and back walls=170 and .172 of*theinnerbagslayer 152.

lapping: edges. 88 which latter are'prefe'rably provided therebetweenwith suitable means 1 for facilitating their cementing or sealingwhereby they are either cemented :or' hermetically fused together by theapplication of heat or coatings of heat'seahrnaterial' as isa. sealingmethod that: can be employed on almost any of V the secured edges ofthe'bags shown in this application;

It will'be seen that it is preferred that the overlapping edges 88 besecured togetherbefore the pieces of material '60 are placed on the.axle 62.

Referring, to FIG. 5 it will be seen that when the sealing of theedges-78 'is done after the cutting into a section 80, then it iseasier'to place sealing material-90 on the forward and rearward side ofthe inner sleeve material (EU-whereby the overlapping edges 78' of-theouter bag can. then be sealed together with a later, sealing operationbinding they-inner sleevesto the Walls of 'theouter bag.

The double wallmeans or dividers can similarly be folded at their lowerends :in the-folded lower end of the entire composite bag similar toother modifications as is believed not-to-need further illustration forthat reason. 7 v a ReferringjoP-IG. 10 we have abag having a singleouter wall and provided with a divider or wall means or .separator' Wall190 having. a single thickness with vertically extending ends 194 whichlatter fit flat against the face and back walls 196 and 198 'of the;bag190 ;--the single wall'means 192'dividingthe bag into two completelyseparate compartmcnts ZOtl and 2021 7 FIG. Silldstrates another'wayseparate wall means 222 can be secured 'by being folded and insertedbetween the bottom ends of the foldedouter bag. 190215 anothermodification. FIG. .8 is a'vieW of abottom of a bag 220 havingan innerseparatorwall portion 222 folded: at. 223.

The lower terminal edges of the bag 2 26 and the separator wall ZZZ-ofthe modification of FIG. 8 are not foldedv over to form a seal butinstead have a suitable cement or heat-sealing material generallyindicated'at 240 therebetween whereby, upon the application of heat, thevarious coatings of heat-sealing material 249 and the wall 222 and bag220 are all sealed together in heat fusion.

It will be seen that this method of sealing can be used in the upper orlower edges of any of the bags herein although it is preferred in manycases that the upper edges be simply folded and stapled for greater easeof opening.

It will also be seen that any suitable adhesive is included in the termcement as used with any of the bags or modifications herein. Further itwill be seen that any suitable material can be employed for these bags,such as wax paper or the like, the particular material not being ofsignificance.

Referring now again to FIG. 1 it will be seen that dotted diagonal lines250 can be employed to indicate lines along which the upper end of thebag can be opened, the dotted lines 250 being imprinted in a suitablemanner into the bag material itself.

A take-apart, two section bag can be made by optionally perforating themulti-compartment bag 15%) of FIG- URE 9 with perforations 270completely around its periphery from the top of the face, down the facethrough folded bottom parts, up the rearward side and through all partsfolded at the top, not shown. The perforations lie along a verticalplane through the bag.

The bag of FIGURE 9, thus weakened by the perforations, can be tornapart to use one bag conveniently at a time. Yet there is enoughstrength to hold both sections together in normal handling.

It will further be seen that the bag 150 of FIGURE 9 can have its twoouter walls completely laminated together giving the appearance of onesingle wall, the two outer walls being formed from paper which is of atwo lamination, double thickness.

It will be seen that the upper and lower ends of the bag have closuremeans attached thereto for maintaining the bag ends substantially sealedand for maintaining the partition sealed to the upper and lower bag endsfor closing the compartments formed by such partition against moistouter air and against the passage of air from one of said compartmentsto the other to maintain the contents of the bag crisp. Such closuremeans can be either sealing material as at 240 as seen in FIGURE 8 orstaples 52 as seen at the top of FIGURES 1 and 3 and either combinedwith folding as shown at the top of FIGURE 3 or multiple folding as seenat the bottom of FIGURE 3.

I claim:

1. A multi-compartmented package comprising a bag for crisp foodproducts, said bag having forward and rearward sides attached togetherat their adjacent portions and disposed in parallelism at their upperand lower ends, a plurality of sleeves in said bag, said sleeves havingclosed sides and having upper and lower ends disposed in parallelismwith and between the said upper and lower ends of said tubular bag, andclosure means attached to the ends of said bag and maintaining said bagends and said partition ends sealed together for economically closingsaid sleeves so as to form inner bags.

2. A multi-compartmented package comprising a bag for crisp foodproducts, said bag having forward and rearward sides attached togetherat their adjacent portions and disposed in parallelism at their upperand lower ends, two spaced partitions in said bag, said partitions eachhaving sides attached to opposite sides of said bag for dividing saidbag into compartments sealed from each other, each said partition havingits upper and lower ends disposed in parallelism with and also disposedbetween the said ends of said tubular bag for economical separation ofsaid compartments, each said partition being of such size as to befolded when said package is flattened, and closure means attached to theends of said bag and maintaining said bag ends and said partition endssubstantially sealed together for closing said compartments againstentry of moist air to maintain the contents crisp, whereby if a usertears said bag between said partitions one of said compartments can bemaintained closed for maintaining the contents crisp while the othersaid compartments can be torn open for access thereinto.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 662,226 11/00Dittgen 22956 1,292,902 1/ 19 Smith 22956 1,983,418 12/34 Thurmer 229562,154,536 4/39 Sebastian 2295 6 2,316,3 85 4/ 43 Abramson 2295 7 XFOREIGN PATENTS 2,338 1905 Great Britain.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner.

EARLE I. DRUMMOND, Examiner.

1. A MULTI-COMPARTMENTED PACKAGE COMPRISING A BAG FOR CRISP FOODPRODUCTS, SAID BAG HAVING FORWARD AND REARWARD SIDES ATTACHED TOGETHERAT THEIR ADJACENT PORTIONS AND DISPOSED IN PARALLELISM AT THEIR UPPERAND LOWER ENDS, A PLURALITY OF SLEEVES IN SAID BAG, SAID SLEEVES HAVINGCLOSED SIDES AND HAVING UPPER AND LOWER ENDS DISPOSED IN PARALLELISMWITH AND BETWEEN THE SAID UPPER AND LOWER ENDS OF SAID TUBULAR BAG, ANDCLOSURE MEANS ATTACHED TO THE ENDS OF SAID BAG AND MAINTAINING SAID BAGENDS AND SAID PARTITION ENDS SEALED TOGETHER FOR ECONOMICALLY CLOSINGSAID SLEEVES SO AS TO FORM INNER BAGS.